Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins is one of several stars around the league waiting to get paid. Entering the last year of his contract, he’s also one of several Bengals waiting to get paid. Defensive end Carlos Dunlap has made waves this offseason by staying away from OTAs and making it clear that he wants a new contract, but Atkins is the better player and likely the player the team wants to lock up first. The Bengals view Atkins as a priority according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, who writes an extension is “an absolute must. Like sunrise or high tide. They know they need him.”
Hobson thinks the Bengals will do everything they can to ensure the three-time All-Pro doesn’t become a free agent at the end of this season. He thinks the wait for a new deal may have something to do with Aaron Donald and the Rams. As Donald awaits his new deal that may make him the highest paid defensive player in the league, Hobson thinks if “Donald signs before him it will make it easier” for Atkins to sign since it will “set the parameters” by resetting the market for defensive tackles.
One way or another, it looks like something will get done and that Atkins will be a Bengal for years to come.
Here’s more from Cincinnati:
- The Bengals could be active in this year’s Supplemental NFL Draft, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Although the Bengals haven’t taken anyone in the Supplemental Draft since 2006, Owczarski thinks this years crop of eligible players are the type of players the Bengals like, writing “this year’s supplemental draft group might pique the Bengals interest.” He thinks the players who have announced “fit positions and physical traits that suit the Bengals” and that since the Bengals have a bunch of late-round picks for the 2019 draft, they might be willing to use one or more of them in the Supplemental Draft.
- Hobson thinks undrafted linebacker Chris Worley will have “every chance to make” the Bengals’ roster. A rookie from Ohio State, Worley has reportedly impressed during OTAs and Hobson gives him a good shot at making the team due to linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s four-game suspension to start the season.
- Quinton Flowers is a “long shot” to make the team, according to Hobson. Flowers was a quarterback at South Florida, but switched positions to running back after signing with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent. If he does manage to make the team, Hobson thinks he’ll play a hybrid role as “the third QB, fourth running back, seventh wide receiver and second or third returner.”